Bering Straits and beyond. Along the entire Yukon, and other streams bordered by trees or
bushes in this region, it is present in great abundance during the breeding-season. It extends
even beyond the tree-limit, wherever a bunch of dwarf willows will give it shelter, to the very
shores of the Arctic and Bering Seas. On the 1st of June, 1879, as I came down the Yukon by
boat, large numbers of their nests were seen in the leafless bushes along the river-banks. A number
of these nests were close to the ground, within 2 or 3 feet, while others were from 8 to 12 feet
high at the division of two stout branches, where the compact structure of fine grass and leaves was
placed. The species reaches the mouth of the Yukon and adjacent coast in large numbers
about the last of May or the first of June. The earliest arrival which I have recorded is on
the ,24th of May. They are soon found in every thicket, whence their low. sweet, song is
frequently heard, but they are very shy and, at the first alarm, dive into .the dense bushes for
shelter. As soon as the breeding-season is over, they become less retiring and frequent the
vicinity of villages and more open spots, where many are killed by the native boys, armed
with their bows .and arrows. Their skins are removed and hung in rows or bunches to dry
in the smoky huts, and are preserved as trophies of the young hunters prowess. In the winter
festivals, when the older hunters bring out the trophies of their skill, the b.oys proudly display
the skins of these Thrushes and hang them alongside.
ic On the sea-coast every alder-patch has a pair or more of these birds, and the presence
of the species at Sitka and Kodiak is attested by many specimens in the-U.S. National Museum.
(Nat. Hist. Coll. Alaska, p. 216.)
The Grey-cheeked Thrush is said to be very abundant on the Anderson and Coppermine
Rivers by Mr. Macfarlane, not only where trees are to be had for nesting purposes, but also in
situations where none exist. One nest was taken by him on Wilmot-Horton River (Proc. U.S. Nat.
Mus. xiv. p. 445, 1891).
In the Slave Lake Region, Dr. Brewer states that T. swainsoni, and not T. aliciw, is the
predominant species. A specimen is in the British Museum from Repulse Bay, collected by
Dr. Rae, and Mr. Eagle Clarke has recorded the species from Port Churchill, Hudson’s Bay
(Auk, vii. p. 322). In Labrador, Professor Elliott Coues found it nesting commonly (Proc.
Philad. Acad. 1861, p. 217), and Mr. L. M. Turner says that it is common in eastern and
south-eastern Labrador, but is rare in Ungava. It breeds wherever it occurs in summer, and
a nest and eggs were taken by him at Fort Chimo on the 28th of June, 1884 (Proc. U.S. Nat.
Mus. viii. p. 235, 1885). Dr. Bishop has procured specimens on the Magdalen Islands in July,
where he believes the species to have been breeding (Auk, vi. p. 149). Mr. Bolles observed
it on Cape Breton Island in August, and Mr. F. H. Allen, who records this occurrence,
believes that it may be a migrant there (Auk, xii. p. 90), if,, indeed, it be not the race known as
T. UcTcnelli. Mr. Palmer obtained full-grown young birds in Canada Bay, Newfoundland, in July
(Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiii. p. 265).
Allowing that, the specimens from the last-named localities have been correctly identified
by the American naturalists, and of this there , can hardly be a doubt, it will be seen that the
breeding of the so-called Tardus licJcnelli on the islands off Nova Scotia brings the nesting-
ranges of these two forms of Grey-cheeked Thrush in rather close proximity, and it is very
doubtful if they are really separable from each other. According to Mr. Hagerup (B. Greenl.
p. 61), T. alicios is “ a chance visitor to South Greenland. Mr. Benzon possesses a specimen
procured in August, 1862.”
The present species is reoorded as a migrant in spring and autumn in Ontario, according to
Mcllwraith (B. Ontario, p. 407), as it is also throughout the greater part of the United States, and
it appears to remain in some localities for several weeks before finally departing for its northern
breeding-home: Mr. Thompson says that in Manitoba it is a common migrant across the
Big Plain (Auk, iii. p. 328, and Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiii. p. 633)," and it has been noticed
by Mr. Thorne at Fort Keogh in Montana in May, but it is rare in the vicinity and only one
female specimen was procured (Auk, xii. p. 218),. It will doubtless be observed on migration
in some of the other States, but it would appear that its line of route is to the eastward of the
Missouri, as it is recorded by Nehrling as passing through Northern Illinois late in September,
and arriving in the last days of April (N. Amer. Birds, p. 14). Dr. Hatch says that in Minnesota
it arrives about the 10th of May, and has so far been only met with on migration, though
he has reason to think that it may turn out to be a summer resident in some localities
(B. Minnesota, p. 438). In the Eastern United States Turdus alicios is spoken of only as a
migrant passing through Tennessee, South Carolina, and Louisiana, to Florida and the Greater
Antilles. In Florida Mr. Scott records it as a migrant in the Caloosahatchie Region (Auk,
ix. p. 214), and he met with it at Tarpon Springs in April (Auk* vii. p. 119), but he states
that it has not been recorded from Punta Rassa or from Key West. Specimens from Corpus
Christi in Texas are in the Salvin-Godman Collection; they were procured by Mr. F. B. Armstrong
in April and October. Near San Antonio Mr. Attwater found the present 'species a common
migrant (Auk,-ix-. p. 344).
Mr. Cory, in his ‘List of the Birds of the West-Indian Islands,’ records the Grey-cheeked
Thrush from Cuba and St. Domingo, and its line of migration passes along the islands of the
Bay of Honduras, as Dr. Gaumer has procured specimens in Cozumel and Ruatan (Salvin,
Ibis, 1888, p. 243). No specimen has yet been recorded from any part of Mexico, but there is
a single example in the Sclater Collection in the British Museum, said to have been obtained
in Guatemala by Skinner, and Lawrence has recorded another as having been obtained by
Von Frantzius in Costa Rica (Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. p. 91).. Arce procured a specimen of this
species on the Volcano of Chiriqui in Panama (Salvin, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 180), and it extends
to Colombia, as there is an example from Bogota in the Seebohm Collection. Count Von Berlepsch
has presented a Venezuelan specimen to the British Museum, and Whitely obtained Turdus alicios
in British Guiana at Bartica Grove in February, at Camacusa in March, and on the Carimang
River in December (Salvin, Ibis, 1885, p. 197). That it goes to Amazonia in winter is
also shown by a specimen procured by Mr. Edward Bartlett at Chamicuros on the 20th of March,
1868 (Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1873, p. 255, s. n. T. swainsoni).
Dr. Brewer, in the ‘ History of North American Birds,’ gives the following note on the
habits of the species :4^-‘ Turdus alicios comes a few days the earlier, and is often in full
song when T. swainsoni is silent. The song of the former is not only different from that
of the latter, but also from that of all our other Wood-Thrushes. It most resembles the song
of T. pallasi, but differs in being its exact inverse, for whereas the latter begins with its
lowest notes and proceeds on an ascending scale, the former begins with its highest and concludes
with its lowest note. The song of T. swainsoni, on the other band, exhibits much less variation in
the scale, all the notes being of the same altitude. I am also informed that while the T. swainsoni
is far from being a timid species, but may be easily approached, and while it seems almost
invariably to prefer the edges of the pine-woods, and is rarely observed in open grounds
or among the bare deciduous trees, the habits of T. alicios are the exact reverse in these
respects. It is not to be found in similar situations, but almost always frequents copses of
hard wood, searching for its food among their fallen leaves. It is extremely timid and difficult
to approach. As it stands or as it moves upon the ground, it has a peculiar erectness of
bearing which at once indicates its true specific character so unmistakably that any one once
familiar with its appearance can never mistake it for T. swainsoni nor for any other bird ”